Reform Wales leader Dan Thomas in fresh attack on Nation.Cymru

Martin Shipton

Reform UK Wales leader Dan Thomas has tabled a written question at the Senedd which wrongly suggests that Nation.Cymru made a false allegation about a former Tory candidate who collapsed a rape trial.

An opinion piece published in 2025 stated that multiple sources had told Nation.Cymru that the man behind a scurrilous X account called Doge Wales was Ross England.

England was giving evidence in the 2019 trial at Cardiff Crown Court of a friend accused of rape when he claimed the victim had taken part in group sex – a statement that led to the case being halted.

Eight months later England, a former aide to Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns, was selected as the candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan for the Welsh Assembly election in 2021. England was a witness in the trial of his friend James Hackett when he told the court about the woman’s sexual history – saying she had previously engaged in “group sex”.

However, the judge had previously ruled any information about the victim’s alleged past was inadmissible because it was not relevant to the case.

Judge Stephen Hopkins told England: “Why did you say that? Are you completely stupid? You have managed, single-handedly, and I have no doubt it was deliberate on your part, to sabotage this trial.”

At a subsequent retrial Hackett was convicted of rape and jailed for five years.

England was dropped as a Conservative candidate and Cairns had to resign as Welsh Secretary after it emerged that he knew England had collapsed the original rape trial.

The Nation.Cymru opinion piece included a section in which former Tory Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies was challenged to reveal what he knew about the authorship of Doge Wales. It was put to him: “Multiple sources have told us that the Doge Wales X account is managed by Ross England, who as you know collapsed a rape trial. As someone who regularly interacts with Doge Wales, do you know if that is the case? If it isn’t the case, do you know who runs the account?” Davies didn’t respond.

England subsequently complained to the press regulator IPSO, claiming he was not “the man behind Doge Wales”.

IPSO upheld the complaint on the narrow basis that England’s denial that he was the man behind the account should have been included in the article.

Now Thomas has submitted a written question to Culture Minister Heledd Fychan asking whether it remains appropriate for Nation.Cymru to receive public funding in light of IPSO complaint 06516-25 [from Ross England], and what standards of accuracy, reliability and editorial governance the Welsh Government expects from organisations receiving public support.

Nation.Cymru CEO Mark Mansfield said: “Dan Thomas’s question gives a much broader impression of the IPSO ruling than the ruling itself supports.

“The complaint concerned a Nation.Cymru opinion article which said: ‘Multiple sources have told Nation.Cymru that the man behind [Doge Wales] is Ross England.’

“IPSO did not find that this allegation was false. It did not rule that England was not behind the account and did not find that Nation.Cymru had fabricated its sources.

“In fact, IPSO specifically said Nation.Cymru had presented the claim as ‘an unproven allegation made by multiple sources’.

“The breach arose because Nation.Cymru had not included England’s denial when the article was published. IPSO said that could leave readers with the misleading impression that England did not dispute the allegation. IPSO therefore upheld a breach of Clause 1(i) on accuracy.

“There was a second breach because IPSO decided Nation.Cymru had not offered its subsequent correction promptly enough.

“Nation.Cymru did offer England a right of reply and offered to amend the article to make clear that he denied running the account. IPSO found no breach of Clause 1(iii) concerning a fair opportunity to reply.

“The scale of the sanction is important. IPSO described the reference to England as ‘a passing remark in an otherwise undisputed article’ and required a correction rather than an adjudication.”

Review

England subsequently sought a review of the IPSO decision. IPSO’s Complaints Committee declined to amend its decision in response to his concerns, although it made a small amendment to the proposed wording of the correction.

“Thomas is using this ruling to raise questions about Nation.Cymru’s public funding and wider ‘accuracy, reliability and editorial governance’. The IPSO ruling was considerably narrower than that framing might suggest.

“I find it quite extraordinary that Dan Thomas posted what amounted to support for Ross England, a man who collapsed a rape trial. I think this tells us a lot about Thomas’s values.”

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